Refuge

How to spell refuge

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce refuge

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does refuge mean?

1. nounA place or state of safety and shelter from danger, trouble, or hardship.

Refuge in a sentence

• The hikers found refuge from the storm in an abandoned barn.

• The old library was her refuge from a stressful office.

Where does refuge come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin refugium, meaning 'a place to flee back to' or 'a shelter'. It was built from the verb refugere, formed from re- 'back' and fugere 'to flee', so the literal idea was running away from danger toward a safe place. English took it up in the 1300s through Old French refuge, keeping the sense of a sheltering haven. The same fugere root runs through a family of related words, including 'fugitive' (one who flees) and 'refugee' (a person who has fled), which is a handy memory hook: the silent-feeling 'g' in refuge ties back to the 'flee' root and explains why the ending is -uge rather than the -udge you might expect from the sound.

How the word is built

• re- (back, away)
• fug (flee, from Latin fugere)
• -e